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Morning Edition
Emily Bright and Lukas Levin

Military superstar and ‘thrill-seeker’ from Minnesota wins Rhodes Scholarship

A cadet stands for a photo
Minnesota's 2025 Rhodes Scholar and West Point cadet Sarah Cao.
Courtesy photo

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Every year, 32 students from universities and colleges across the United States are picked for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, which gives them the opportunity to continue their studies at Oxford University. This year, one of them is a Minnesotan.

Sarah Cao of Plymouth is one of four cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York who was selected for this year’s award. In high school, she had not heard about West Point until a coach said it might be a good fit.

“Back home in Minnesota, I was really supported by my swim and dive community. I was on the was it a high school team for five years, and then my club diving coach, John Daly, over at Edina, introduced me to West Point. We thought it would be a really good fit,” Cao said.

Included on her long resume is preparing daily briefings for the Pentagon and an award for being the top-ranked female cadet in physical fitness. And Cao doesn’t just dive into water, she also has two national collegiate championship titles for her work as a skydiver on West Point’s Parachute Team.

She said she’s “definitely a bit of a thrill seeker,” and her experience at West Point helped her indulge that side of herself. “There’s just so many opportunities to do, do these things that maybe you wouldn't do right at your normal university,” she said.

But applying for the Rhodes Scholarship gave her pause.

“When it comes to the Rhodes Scholarship, you really never know how it’s going to turn out when you start the application process,” Cao said, adding that she felt a little hesitant at first but then decided to go for it. “I think it’s worth it at the end of the day to put yourself out there, regardless of the outcome. Just going through the process, you learn so much about yourself.”

She spoke with Morning Edition guest host Emily Bright about what’s next for her.

Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.